Improvement in harvesting-machines



UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM NEFF, OF CENTRE-HALL, IENNSYLVAIA.

IMPI-iOVIEMErJT IN HARvEsTlNe-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 3 3,539, dated October 22, 186i.

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known' that I, WILLIAM NEFL, of Centre Hall, in the county of Centre and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Harvesting Grain and Grass; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompa nying drawings, making a part of this specification,'in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of so 'much ofthe machine as will illustrate my in-.

vention. Fig. 2 represents the brace-bar, that braces the coupling-arm to the main frame. Fig. 3 represents a ,View of the spring-clutch,

for holding the wheels to the axle when the machine is `moving forward.

In mowing grass especially, it-is important that the cutting apparatus should-travel close to the ground, and conform to the undnlations thereof; otherwise the grass will be unevenly cropped. For this purpose the finger bar, which supports and carries the cutters, is so coupled and united to the main frame as to allow' it to freely rise and fall in (,onformingr to the slopes or undulations that it passes over without being influenced by the inequalities in the path of the carrying and driving wheels; but while this nger-bar is thus left free to rise and fall independent of the rising and falling of the main wheels and main frame, it must be secured against any lateral variation from its direct path, 'which would, if allowed, cramp, bind, and choke up the cutters, and the cutters must not be allowed to stop for a moment` while the machine is progressing over the ground, for this immediately fills them with torn-up and dragged grass, that entirely clogs them up, and frequently breaks up the machine.

My invention consists in the peculiar, construction and arrangement of the couplingarm and brace-bar which I use for securing v the finger-beam to themain frame, andallow-- ingthe said finger-beam to conform itself to the varying surface of the ground over which it passes, and uninfluenced by the rising and falling motions of the mainwheels or main frame; and it further consists in hinging the platform to the finger-beam, and hinging't'he inside fence or side board of the platform to the platform, and suspending the platform to the axlewhile the machine is being moved for- I ward, and allowing them to turn independent thereof when the machine is backed. 4

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A A represent a pair of carrying and driving wheels loosely attached` to the opposite ends of a common axle, a. The main frame B is balanced, or nearly so, on the axle of the wheels A, and upon this axle there is a gearwheel (not seen in the drawings) that drives a pinion on the shaftb, and gives motion to said shaft; and upon this shaft b is placeda bevelgear, C, that takes intol and turns a pinion, I), on one end of the shaft E, the other endthere of being furnished with a crank-wheel, F, (to a wrist-pin, c, in which one end of the pitman y is att-ached,) the other end ofthe pitman being connected to the upper end of the vibrating lever (l, for the purpose of driving the cutters, as will be hereinafter described.

G is the linger-beam. Itis secured to the main frame by a coupling-arm, H; t0 the lower end of which it is fastened, the upper end 0i said coupling-arm passing throughtwo sleeves,

c f, formed on the brace-bar, and in which sleeves said coupling-arm can turn, as it is rounded off -for this purpose. When the coupling-arm is slipped through the sleeves e f up to its shoulder g, and the pin i inserted at the other sleeve, the connection is rm, while the coupling-arm is free to turn in its supports. The brace-bar is of a V form, its leg h being secured to thc front cross-bar, B', of the mainl frame by eyebolts, in which it can freely turn, while the other leg, j, serves as a diagonal brace'` from said main frame to the couplingarm, to keep the coupling-arm from moving laterally. The vibrating lever d is pivotedat k to the coupling arm H, and its lower end is connected to the cutter-bar Z, so as to operate saidp bar and its cutters m through the iingers'n. 1-

The pivot k may be nearer tothe cutter-bar than shown in the drawings, so that the stroke of the cutters may be commensurate with the power of they machine. In they coupling-arm Hlthere is a hole, o, designed for the lever I, which extends up to or near the drivers seat,

so that the driver may by means of said leverl yraise and-lower the finger-bar whenever it becomes necessary to do so; and' the lever I is made removable from the coupling-arm, so that it will ,not prevent the platform or lingerbar from being turned up and leanedl against so as to be carried by the main frame. i

The platform or table J vis hinged, as at p, to each end ofthe finger-bar, and. has upon it v an `outside adjusting-wheel, K. The side L of the platform is hinged atq to the table, so that -it may beturned down onto the table when the platform is to be folded up against the main frame to be carriedthere. The mainfr anie side ofthe platform -is suspended to the mainframe by means. of the chains r r, the `linksof which catch over pins s s, land by means of which said platform inay be adjusted to height. vz

'A pin, t, is fixed againstthe end ofthe shaft b, which holds-its gear C upto the bevel-gear on the shaft E;but when the machine is moved from place to place this pin maybe drawn-out, which allowsthe shaft to slip endwise and v move C out lof gear with D 'and stop the Work'- ling of the'cutt'enbar.

The clutch' for uniting the wheels and axle when the machine is 'going forward, and dis connecting them when backing, is made as fob lows: On theinside ends of the hubs arefornied ratchet-teethu, 'and on the axielfnearthereto are keyed, by a feather and slot, as at w, (so,

as to slip along the axle but always to turn with it,)' the star-wheel o, having springsw he- 'hind them to'throw their teeth into gear with the ratchet-teeth. When the mahine is moved forward 4these teeth atchagainst the square shoulders of the ratchet-teeth and hold-the wheel and axle together; bht when the ma `chine is backed the inclined parts of theratchet-teeth force the star-wheelsaway from them-f the elasticity of the springs wiadmitting of this-.and then the wheels turn independently of the axle. Both of the mainwheels are drivers independent of each other, so that in turning the' machine around, where one wheel stands comparatively stillandthe other' one moves,'the cutters will continue to work, and thus prevent the grass from clogging them.

The drivers seat should be located ata point at or over the main axle, and may be made to.

' 1.- In combination with a rolling couplingarm, the hinged Vl-shaped brace,'with its bosses, for thi?I purpose ofso uniting the fingerlbar to the main frame as that `it may conformto the undnlations ofthe ground over which it passes,-

4Vand be turned up against and be carried by the 'main frame when transporting the machine from place to place', substantially as described- 2. In combination with ahinged oryi'elding finger-bar, a hinged platform, a hinged side piece, and the flexibleand adjust-ahlesuspending devices, so that the platform may he adjusted as to heightaud so that the finger-beam andfplatform may be folded up` against,to be carried by, the main frame when-transporting the machine from place to place, substantially as described. 4

As' a clutching and unclutching device for making' the wheels and axle of a harvesting-machine move together or independent 0f each other, the combination of the ratehets u, stanwhecls o, with their springs, slots, and

feathers, as hercindescribed and represented. WILLIAM' NEFF.

Witnesses:

' G. H. WEAVER,

JOHN L. JOHNSTON. 

